Entering the Land of Lincoln

Looking east out of my Airbnb in Davenport, across the Mississippi River, you could see the State of Illinois, a part of the nation fully immersed in its recognition of Abraham Lincoln, so I made my pilgrimage to the American Mecca, the grave and the library and the museum of our 16th President. Having been to roughly a dozen other presidential museums, libraries, and graves, I found the city of Springfield so shrouded in Lincoln-related tourism that it ultimately dwarfed the real story of the man. There’s no question that the displays were beautifully laid out, that the exhibits were informative, but I came across several misprints and some filler exhibits that seemed either out-of-place or occasionally shameless, like the blood-stained glove that Mary Todd was wearing when her husband was shot. Even at his grave, I’d imagine the dead get very little rest, what with all those people walking into and around his tomb.